It’s a testament to the unfeasible beauty of the cast of Jim Sheridan’s tearjerker that Poldark’s Aidan Turner, present in a supporting role, looks distinctly average by comparison. But all the smouldering gorgeousness of Rooney Mara, Theo James, Jack Reynor and Eric Bana can’t dress up this mawkish slog of a movie. Adapted from the book by Sebastian Barry, the story deals with subject matter that has already been tackled with more heartbreaking humour in Philomena and more biting fury in The Magdalene Sisters. Credit must go to Vanessa Redgrave, however, playing a woman who has been institutionalised since she was in her 20s and acting everyone else off the screen.
